


Hero's Welcome

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: 12 Monkeys (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Hugs, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 09:03:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15239994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: There's one person who's been waiting for Deacon to come home. (Missing scene from 3x04)





	Hero's Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> I know this is old, but I didn't realize until season 4 that, given their later reactions, this absolutely must have happened.

It didn't matter who he saved. Deacon was never gonna be the guy who got the hero's welcome.

Imagining what his father would have to say about the fact that he'd even _had_ the thought, Deacon shook his head as he headed back to see what was left of his room. He needed to get rid of some of this damn hair, find his spare gun, and see if any booze had survived the "fuck you it's the apocalypse" post-rejection binge he'd been wallowing in last time he'd been here. He deserved to get drunk, and it wasn't like it would harm anything. By the time someone remembered him, he'd have slept it off. 

"Deacon?"

He stopped abruptly at the sound of Jennifer's voice, coming from the far end of the hallway. He hadn't been surprised to see her in the splinter room, but he assumed she'd want to get in on the happy reunion that was happening back there. Sure, she'd have to wait her turn -- no way Cassie and Cole were planning on letting go of each other any time soon -- but it had to happen eventually. 

When he turned around, though, she hurried toward him before stopping a few feet away like she'd run into a wall. "Are you okay?" she asked, then winced. "Of course you're not okay -- you just escaped from the supervillain's lair. But..." She faltered, radiating worry. "Are you okay?"

Deacon's chest tightened, the misery he'd had building slipping away in the face of her sheer earnestness. He honestly hadn't felt guilty about killing the old woman after he'd done it -- he'd never felt guilty about anyone he'd killed -- but then he'd watched Jennifer as they'd all made their cross-wilderness trek to Titan. She was in _so_ far over her head, more so than any of the rest of them, but she threw her whole heart and soul into anything that was asked of her. Yeah, she was as nuts as he was, but instead of letting it pull her into the darkness she used it to make so much light it could blind you. 

It dug at him, that he'd taken someone like that out of the world. People like Jennifer needed to be _protected_.

Now, he dredged up his most cocky look. "You know me -- here to chew bubblegum and kick ass."

That surprised a smile out of her. "And you're all out of bubblegum?"

The sight of it eased something inside him. "Damn right."

All too soon, though, the smile slipped back off her face. She was about to burst with _something_ , her entire body shifting like she was ready to explode but didn't quite dare, and Deacon sighed when he realized what it probably was. He had, technically, saved her life, and since she steadfastly refused to blame him for killing her she wouldn't even just accept it as payback. No, she was going to want to _thank_ him, and Deacon braced himself for an incredibly awkward conversation about feelings that he _absolutely_ didn't have the mental energy for. 

But it was Jennifer, so he'd suck it up and deal. "Whatever you're holding back, just let it out." He took a deep breath. "Anything short of crying, I can deal with."

She went still at that, surprise lighting her eyes. "Really?"

He had a brief, horrible thought that he'd been wrong about what she was holding back, that she was really planning to ask him about Cassie or confess her love for Cole. But the surprise had shifted to hope, and he couldn't find it in him to shut her down. "Sure." He braced himself for whatever it was. "Lay it on me."

Her face lit for an instant, but instead of saying anything she flung herself forward and wrapped her arms around his middle. Deacon froze, not even breathing, as she squeezed him as tight as she could. "I'm really glad you're back," she whispered, not letting go.

Deacon swallowed, feeling unsteady in an entirely different way than he had in that cell. Slowly, carefully, he settled his arms around her, warmth seeping through him in a way he was sure couldn't actually be happening.

Still, he was pretty sure there wasn't a hero's welcome in the world that could match this. 

He closed his eyes, letting himself hold on just a little bit tighter. "Me too," he murmured, voice softer than it should have been. "Me, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
